Knife-wielding man kills 2 women in Marseille, France, terrorism suspected

A man wielding a knife murdered two women at a train station in Marseille, France Sunday. The attacker was shot dead by military police at the scene who are part of “Operation Sentinelle.” CNN reports authorities are investigating the attack as terrorism:

The incident is being treated as a terror attack and has been handed over to a special prosecutor in Paris, the prosecutor’s office told CNN.

Military police killed the suspect. Authorities are investigating whether he had links to terror organizations.

CNN and the NY Times are not offering any clues as to why terrorism is suspected but the BBC fills in some of the details:

An unnamed official told France’s Le Monde newspaper that the assailant had cried “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest).

French media report that both victims were women; one had her throat cut and the other was stabbed to death…

The man who carried out the attack was in his twenties and of North African appearance, reports say.

The Daily Mail adds some eyewitness accounts describing the panic that apparently started when people heard the gunshots of the police firing on the attacker:

‘There was screaming and shouting, and people were running everywhere,’ said one witness. ‘People were picking up children, and trying to help those who weren’t very good on their feet. They just wanted to get away.’

Another female witness called Hajar told FranceInfo: ‘I heard two shots, that was what triggered the panic. People came out of a waiting room shouting ‘Run! Don’t stay in the station. Everybody outside.’

‘I had just got to the station when everyone started running. People sitting on the terrace of a fast food restaurant came inside and shouted ‘Run, get out! Then I saw a woman on the floor, they were giving her CPR.’

There was an acid attack on four American women in their 20s in the same train station two weeks ago. All four of the intended victims were students at Boston College. The 41-year-old woman who attacked them was later arrested and police said she had a “psychiatric history.”

I’ll update this post later if there are new developments.